By the time you read this the world will have changed

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There is something both sweet and scary about preparing Naomi for her first big protest where bad things might happen. It's Orlando and so I'm not as worried as I might be if it were DC or New York or some of the other places I've participated in social actions like this one, but still, sitting your kid down and saying "Here's a card with all your pertinent information, put it in your bag," and writing her name, age and birth date on it and "In case of emergency" who to call. (Stuff they tell protesters to write on their bodies, but that I didn't want to write on her just in case.) Explaining to her "Avoid the police, if you get lost, find someone with a stroller," and telling her which media outlets she's not allowed to talk to.

Naomi asked about going to the women's march today. I have mixed emotions about it-I'm proud of her for wanting to take a stand, I'm frightened at the idea of letting her go, I'm excited to see her take real ownership in her own world and embrace the power she has to be part of making change.

We've prepared her to be safe as best we could, she's capable of talking to the news media (and we've even told her a few that we don't want her to talk to,) and she's as ready as she can be. I may not be ready to help her deal with the things she might see or hear, but I will rise to the occasion.

Miriam didn't want to go-she couldn't handle a crowd that size or the noise; after some discussion last night Andrew and I decided that I'd stay home with Miriam and he'd take Naomi. In a truly dangerous situation, he's bigger and scarier looking and better able to protect Naomi and keep her safe. I'm sad about missing out, and about sharing that experience with her, but I think as parents it's one of the times we choose what's best for our children over ourselves.